Void
by theatrhythms
Summary: Zack and Cloud strive for survival, but they’re hanging on a thin thread. Shounen-ai


**Title:** Void

**Author: **X Academy

**Series:** Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

**Summary: **Zack and Cloud strive for survival, but they're hanging on a thin thread.

**Warnings/Rating:** M. Gore, mass angst, and character death. Somewhat AU, shounen-ai.

**Pairings:**

platonic Zack x Cloud  
implied Zack x Aerith

**Characters:**

Zack Fair  
Cloud Strife  
Hojo (mentioned)  
Aerith Gainsborough (mentioned)  
Tifa Lockhart (mentioned)

**Author Notes: **I know this is kinda dark, but the idea popped into my head.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. I just do this for fun. I need a life.

* * *

Zack clawed his way through the brush, sweat and blood trickling down his tanned face. Cloud had accidentally scratched his scar and made it bleed. He wasn't angry. He knew that Cloud didn't know any better. When Zack got though to hard ground, he sat down, pulling Cloud into his lap. He had Cloud's blond head propped up on his arm. He mouth hung open, and his eyes were lidded. Zack wiped his matted blond bangs out of his blue eyes. His eyes. They were so different, now that Hojo had altered them. Why did he have to mess with that pure, innocent sky blue they once were? Zack had loved that color, and Cloud was the only person he knew who had eyes that beautiful shade of blue. He bent down and kissed Cloud's eyelids, feebly hoping that the color and life would return to the orbs underneath. Nothing happened. Zack threw his head back and screamed, not caring that the ShinRa army was after them. He had to release some of his pain, if only some.

Cloud whimpered and snuggled against Zack. He was making little sobbing noises. Zack held his limp body close to his chest, nuzzling his nose into his blond spikes, despite the fact that they needed washing. He didn't care. He loved Cloud, as a friend, as a brother, and dirty hair wouldn't get in the way of that love. He rocked Cloud back and forth, mumbling a lullaby Aerith had taught him. She said that her mother, when she was alive, sang it to her, and it always calmed her. Then, she made him lay his head in her lap, and she sang the song to him, combing her thin fingers through his spiky black hair. Oh, how he wished she could sing to him right now, when he needed her most.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when a cold gloved hand touched his scabbing scar. Zack winced at the soreness. Cloud was looking up at him, his eyes still lidded. He moved his fingers to Zack's full lips, rubbing the leather of his gloves on the chapped skin. Zack groaned deeply. Just being in physical contact with Cloud was difficult to bear. He gave in and wrapped his mouth around Cloud's gloved index finger, sucking at it lightly. Cloud leaned in closer to Zack, whimpering. His dull eyes were pleading for something Zack couldn't decipher. The brunette took the leather covering Cloud's finger between his teeth and tugged at it until the glove slipped off. Cloud withdrew his hand and fisted it in Zack's dirty SOLDIER uniform shirt, burying his head in his shoulder and continuing to whimper. Zack's head fell back and he closed his eyes, running his hand up and down Cloud's back. He suddenly thought of Tifa, the buxom guide back at Nibelheim. Cloud said he had a crush on her, right? Tifa seemed to have an affinity for him, too. He remembered her screaming her hatred for him and everything ShinRa. She shouldn't have hated him right now. Here he was taking care of her precious Cloud, who she loves so much. She didn't know anything!! He would love Cloud more than she ever would!

Cloud shifted in his lap, turning his head over. He looked as if he was sleeping lightly. Zack ran his fingers through the boy's soft hair. Wait, Cloud wasn't a boy, was he? He used to be a boy, fragile and shy. But now Cloud was a man, as weak as he may seem. Zack noticed that his growth had been stunted, but that didn't change the fact that he had become a man through the years. The brunette let out a shaky sigh in slight realization. He knew Cloud was a man, but some part of him wanted him to stay the cute, innocent boy he was when he first met him. That boy that would always look up to he, a man, for guidance and strength, that boy that made Zack feel innocent with every passing glance, that boy that was tangible and that he could feel under his fingertips. Zack held Cloud up closer to him, feeling the blond's faint heartbeat against his strong one.

Zack knew that Cloud was dying. He was trying to prevent it the best he could, but the blond's life was slowly ending. He barely got anything to eat, and the mako in his system was eating away at him little by little. He was going through a painful withdrawal from the poisonous substance, and it was proving to be too much for his fragile body to handle. Zack worried greatly for him.

Suddenly Cloud's body broke into violent spasms, and his eyes snapped open bloodshot red. Zack pulled Cloud off of him to shake him gently. "Cloud?", he asked, worried, "Cloudy?" The blond's lithe body convulsed involuntarily before Cloud began to cough. Zack put his hand on his forehead to find that Cloud was ice cold. Had he done something incorrect? What was wrong with Cloud? Cloud's coughing ensued, and he doubled over leaning on Zack for support. Blood shot from Cloud's mouth and Zack gasped in surprise. He laid Cloud on the ground, only holding his head up, in an attempt to stop his coughing. It didn't work, and Cloud continued to cough up his thick blood. Zack didn't know what to do. He was confused and terrified. "Cloud! Please, stop!!", Zack shouted, meagerly attempting to hinder the violent coughing.

Suddenly, Cloud stopped, his head falling to the side with his eyes still open. Zack simply stared in shock before putting a hand to Cloud's forehead. Ice. He ran a hand down Cloud's chest, feeling no heartbeat or breathing. Zack choked back a sob. No. No. Cloud couldn't die this soon, he just couldn't. But, he did. Cloud was dead, and Zack couldn't do anything about it. Zack eyes went to the sky through the trees and the stars to wherever Cloud's soul was soaring high above him. He let out a long, horrifying scream of terror, fisting his hair with tears running down his face. He screamed until his voice was hoarse and dry, but then kept on screaming after that. He hoped Cloud could hear him, could hear how torn and broken he was, could hear his dreadful pain, could hear just how much he cared for him. Cloud was dead, and Zack couldn't do anything about it.

* * *

**Really sad, I know. I don't even like this, that's how sad it is. I almost cried while I was typing this, and I'm sorry if it makes you really sad.**

**I didn't want to kill Cloud. Sorry, I'll bring him back to life. :D Read Viva if this got you down too much.**

**- X Academy**


End file.
